Jesus fright. Yeah, same America and.
For one nation, and.
This is wrong.
This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOCs.
And this is the Friday edition and morning toil you. Welcome to it. Last day of the work week, last day of the month. It is Friday, January thirty. First, it is good to have you here. Morning. I'm Gary David, Morning Christopher Thompson who joins us as all almost always, I.
Try to be here whenever I can more and more often than not. You are thank you and I appreciate that.
Man.
It's good to see about it. I'm good to see you. Is it just me? Or this week seem like it's been like maybe a week and a half.
This has been maybe two week from there a dangerous place.
Yes, well we're bringing it to a close here finally, Thank goodness for that bad this morning you step out temperatures mid upper forties across the midland, so and we're into the upper seventies today. But there's that rain chance moving in, but really more tonight than anything else, so today should be okay, hopefully, you'll get back home later on today without having a deal with all that mess.
Although if your experiences like mine, I think most of Columbia stops working on Friday about by two o'clock.
The traffic on these roads early in the afternoon on a Friday, it's practically impossible.
To get through. Yeah, all right, Well, it's good to have you here. There's a lot happening, so let's get to it to run down the big stories, the hot topics for the final day of January, and the month ends with another scheduled execution here in South Carolina. Yesterday all avenues for appeal closed down. Marion Bowman Junior made
the decision not to see clemency from Henry McMaster. This announcement coming from his legal team after the Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to take up separate appeals that were filed by his legal team. He says that in the statement not to ask for clemency is one of his attorneys saying that Marion has steadfastly maintained his innocence, yet he's already spent more than
half his life on death row. He cannot in good conscience ask for a supposed mercy that would require him to spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. He's sticking to his story. Okay, That execution by lethal injection is set for six o'clock today. By the way, there was this other side note to that to this, and that was the ACLU is suing about our shield law here in South Carolina that keeps
these pharmaceutical companies that supply these drugs a secret. Well, that's not a federal court ruling that a bowman can't know more about these drugs, that death row in Mace do not have the right to know more about them. This was part of that federal court, that Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirming denying that pause. Okay, all right, So there's that thousands right at the state House yesterday
for school choice and private school vouchers. In the Senate, well, a major hurdle was cleared yesterday on the Senate side, the Senators approving the K through twelve education lottery scholarship. That vote pretty much along party lines, thirty to twelve. There was well, Shane Martin, one Republican, joined all Democrats
who opposed it. So they've been debating this for about two weeks now, and this again was another thing highlighted the State of the State address by the governor Wednesday night. So this this moves along on the Senate side. And this has again been one of the priority items that Republicans before the session began, so they wanted to get done.
And it might have been done by now, it had not been for the whole one point eight billion dollar deal thing, you know, missing never happened kind of money. So anyway, and there's a more and more discussion again about restarting the VC Summer nuclear plant. This again after the governor in the State of the State endorsed trying to find private companies to jump on in here state lawmakers are reacting to that. Yesterday leaders agreeing to let
Santee Cooper explore. Okay, here we go, okay, partnering with private companies. Now, maybe I missed something here. I thought this was this is all on the private companies. It was what does this partnering with private companies mean?
Maybe they realized that they can't sell it unless they put some skin in the game.
Who's skinny putting in the game. Well, you're let's see. Hang on a second, Santia Cooper, you're owned by the state, You're owned by the taxpayers. So wait, wait, what's this partnership stuff. All of a sudden, Tom Davis, who's course been pushing for such, said that allowing Santi Cooper to partner with private industry to finish it will bring rates down. Oh I'm starting not to like the sound of this. I love to get into this more. Okay, Nancy Mace
continues to make noise. First, she well, who's she hasn't announced she's running for governor yet, but well, everything indicates that she will be making the rounds. And well, the attack dog unleashed started off with attacking a g Allen Wilson, and now she's turned her claws into well pamelav at the lieutenant governor. So she was asked about lieutenant governor when she exited an event in Charleston. So she's a
really nice lady. But unfortunately in six years now going on eight as lieutenant governor, she really has no accomplishments, nothing to show for, doesn't have an original idea. Okay, well, you know we said this the other day for the lieutenant governor. But if you lined up ten South Carolinians. How many could actually I tell you who the Lieutenant governor is or shown a picture of her, would be able to identify her? You know she she has been kind of, you know, way deep in the background.
Well, unless you're Andre Bauer and speeding through town stip in the case, then that office doesn't get a whole lot of attention.
Andre had his own way to getting attention. Yeah. Right, Seven arrested in Charleston during a protest that's actually happened Wednesday night, protest against immigration policies of the administration. All right, so we found out more about that plane crash in d C. It's a lot more to be found out about. Well,
here's some local ties here. That plane, that same aircraft started its day on that ill fated day back on Wednesday here in South Carolina, departed Greenville Spartanburg Airport early that morning on multiple flights that wound up again with it being hit by that Blackhawk helicopter at Reagan National Wednesday night. The flight crew, as many American lines flight crews,
are based in Charlotte. But we're now hearing more information, like from the FAA saying that the staffing at that airport was not normal on the night of the collision. It's been talked that the controller was one controller was controlling both commercial aviation and the military helicopters. And as we discussed a bit yesterday, oftentimes you know, the civilian operations and the military operations are on different frequencies on
different radios. Did that play into things. The pilot of the American Airlines flight was asked to change runways right before that incident, controllers warned the Blackhawk. So there's a lot to get into here. And then the President yesterday I took to the podium to talk about this and listen, it's not that he didn't bring up things that need
to be brought up about Dei's impact. And you may have probably heard a lot about this since he said this yesterday, the diversity hires, and how has this made it less safe to fly in this country? So what he had to say, he made good points, But I gotta tell you what, I was appalled that he did it right then.
I mean, the timing was horrible.
Yes, the points need to be made. I just didn't feel like that was the time to do it.
You often point out one of his rules is to be the comforter in chief, and that's what he should be doing, assuring Americans it's safe to fly, comforting the victims' families, not taking shots.
Yeah, that was not the time to do it. It needs to be done. It needed to be done, but just not then in that setting. You may disagree, and that's fine. Uh. More contention in the Senate yesterday, RFK Junior fishes up his two days of confirmation hearings ahead of a vote. Will he get through well? Cash Battel started yesterday his first couple of days. That was fun, right, and the Tulsi Gabbard also beginning her confirmation hearings. Again, it looks like those three if you had to say,
can you get two out of three? Ain't bad? Well, maybe what it comes down to here Cash Btel more than likely is going to get get through here, much to the Democrat chagrin. RFK Junior Tulci Gabbard, is it a coin toss? I think Gabbard's not gonna I don't know it's gonna happen. We'll see, all right, Well, we got that more to get to here on this the Friday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News as always, it is a pleasure to have you with.
Us traffic and weather when you needed most every ten minutes morning because I need to know what I'm gonna wear in the morning. On one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC, this is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC.
Want to tell you we got so much to get into this morning. More information on the that that tragedy in the in DC Wednesday night that took the lives of sixty seven people. Could it have been avoided? We've got more to talk about on that this morning. Some of the new information that we're finding out. Confirmation Hearing has been continuing it up at least for RFK Junior yesterday but today one of two for Tulsi Gabbard and for Cash Betel. Yes, there were fireworks, as you might imagine,
So we got that to get into. Oh and wait, is there a bit of a change of tune in this VC summer nuclear plant restart idea here? Okay, Well, we'll get to that as well. Now we all know there are a number of things that Donald Trump would like to do away with one that's he's well, he's been very vocal about in the past. I haven't heard much about it, you know, in the first week and
a half nearly two weeks of his new administration. But Brendan Carr, who is now the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sent a letter this way to the heads of NPR and PBS telling them an investigation was gonna happen here into their airing of sponsorship, which is something that they've been doing for a long long time. This letter written and delivered Wednesday from Carr, longtime member of
the FCC, now the chair. I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcast could be violating federal law by airing commercials in particularly rights. It is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements. Okay, well, we all know that PBS NPR are publicly funded. Now. In a response from a David folken Flick of NPR, whoever that is, says that well, underwriting has become an increasingly important part
of public funding finances in recent decades. As public funding is pulled back, says he claims it on average, NPR receives about one percent of its funding direct from the federal government each year. Well now, materials that are publicly available will tell you that PBS gets about sixteen percent. And that was from a network spokesperson. So I don't know who's I haven't looked at this data. I'm not who's told, but whatever, So it is not one hundred
percent funded by the public, but there is. There are public dollars going whether it's one percent, sixteen percent, fifty percent, there is public money going into these entities. And of course they're very liberals, as you know, so this is maybe a different tack here the car's undertaking when it comes to these broadcast entities. You know, straight up, I'll tell you I I have voiced sponsorship things for NPR in the past, had one a few months ago for
well out somewhere in the Southwest. I don't recall where it was. Now Trader, I know, well, you know, I mean Green's green Man.
Apparently they think so too.
Apparently they do. And I'm gonna have to go back and look and and and and pull that one up again because I don't recall if it mentioned a particular like an advertiser by name or not. I don't have to remember that. I can tell you this years ago, I mean decades ago, in my early days in this business. For some crazy reason, I don't know why, but the local NPR station called me one day and they said they were doing a some sort of a project about was local whatever it was, and would I come by
and uh and be interviewed. Sure? Why not? Well? I got to talking to the producer and what he told me just stunned me. They had been working on this project for like six months, and I never heard the end product, but I'm sure it was probably maybe a couple of minutes segment, you know. And I'm like six months, six months, geez, I'm giving a script and told to turn it around in sixty seconds. Man, Yeah, we don't. We don't have long to do anything before we better
be on in the next project. Point being, it's not just this business. There's all businesses, you know, private business. You got to get the job done. Government business, say, you know what, ain't no big rush. So that goes to a bigger point here again. You know, we got this deadline for federal workers if we don't want to go back into the office, Well, fine, go ahead and resign it and we'll even pay you through September it. Listen, this is not a knock both my parents. My father
retired military and then worked a civil service. My mother did too for a number of years. This is not a knock on any in particular individual who works for the federal government. But the way they've structured all this and the way that the liberal leadership is allowed it to be, you just wonder what's getting done sometimes or
is anything getting done? So a bit of a different take here by the new chairman of the FCC when it comes to NPR and PBS, and I don't know where this one goes or but again it's just it points to a bigger issue. If you've got federal funds or public funds, taxpayer money going into something, there should be some accountability at some point in time, right, of course there should, is there? You really wonder Sometimes.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
Last week, Santi Kopa began the process of gauging the feasibility of and the interest in starting the construction of two abandoned nuclear actors at the VC Summer Nuclear Station. I believe that restarting these two reactors in South Carolina will not only help fuel our state's future power needs, but will also usher in a nuclear power renaissance across the United States.
Alrighty, it is sixteen after seven, good morning for Friday, January thirty. First, there was the governor in the state of the state Wednesday night. We talked about this yesterday. So Governor McMaster comes out endorses of you know, having the VC Summer Nuclear Plant restarted, the construction to try to get this thing up and running. Okay, again, if this has done the way this was originally rolled out, that I have no issues with it, and maybe I'm
reading all this wrong. I'm start to get a little landsay about this. And we'll get to why that is here in a moment or two. All Right, so you and me know we're still paying for that boondoggle. It just sits there collecting rust. I suppose all those parts and such and in the idea was is to try to entice private businesses to come in and restar our construction and finish it off. And you know, again the
governor is right. Listen. Nuclear power even went on in that address to to talk about how you know, nuclear submarines and how long that power you know, lasts. It is a terrific way to generate electricity that is much needed now in this state. It is going to be much needed a whole lot more here in the coming years. Okay, So when the word first broke that Santie Cooper was soliciting bids and that it would be all you know, private bill, Okay, it's all good. Now, yesterday you had
state leaders agreeing. So let's anti Cooper, you know, go off on this fishing expedition. I'm still of the opinion it's gonna be hard to find somebody unless they actually see this as Wow, this is a real money maker for us, just because of you know, the history of this project. And I'm still not convinced somebody can come in and just pick up where it was left off. I think they may have to backtrack a bit, maybe have to revise some things because that Westinghouse design didn't
work to begin with. This is why we wound up where we.
Are and there's talk now of maybe asking some of these huge data centers like Google to kick in. If you're going to draw the power, then you know, maybe you help us build something that we need in order to give you that power.
Yes, and Microsoft is already talking about doing that in some places. Because these these big data farms, as we've discussed, are sucking up enormous amounts of energy. You kind of liken this to the you know, the discussion here in the state and the bait back and forth over the years about you know, these mega farms and how much of the groundwater they're they're taking up. Well, this is
the same thing with electricity, these huge data farms. All you know, this this whole AI thing is sucking energy out like nobody's business. So let's get to my newfound concerns here, all right. Well, at least while they questioned yesterday,
they had a meeting questioning these energy execs. We had the CEO of Santi Cooper, Jimmy Staton, you had Keller Kassam, who's heads up Dominion South Carolina, and again they were asked about, you know, whether or not ratepayers would bear any risk for restart and the state newspapers write upon this is that both State and Cassam or Cassam said they have no intention of exposing rate payers to additional risks. State and saying we do not intend to take that risk.
He didn't say we're not going to take that risk. He said we do not intend to take that risk. Again, maybe I'm reading way too much into that, but I feel a little more comfortable if you were to say, yes, the rate payers will not be at risk. And then Tom Davis, Senator Davis saying that the quote here was five point seven billion of the eight billion is still being paid for by customers of Dominion and Santie Cooper.
So if we can get the private sector to come in, using private dollars at risks and acquiring that assetting complete construction, you could take that five point seven billion dollars off the rate payers base, so their bills will go down. Okay, I like that idea, But this word partner jumped in here, and again maybe I'm reading way too much into this, but but saying allowing Santa Cooper to partner with private industry to finish it would bring rates down. I don't
want any of the risk at all. None of us do back on the rate payers again. And I don't think you know, now I think about a little bit more. I'm not sure that's what you know when Davis's partner. Maybe that again, Maybe I'm listen, we're we're all freaking out about this just because of what happened to us last time.
Right, we're already partners in what happened. That's true, We're already. It doesn't matter.
We're already partners, all right on the hook already. So I again, that's maybe this is what Davis is getting at saying that, yeah, if if if you partner up with these private companies, well then you know, close to six billion dollars of what we're already on the hook for. Maybe they can be on the hook for it, and we can get these these these these search charges off our bills. Okay, well excuse me for you know, kind of being a little bearish on this idea.
Makes you wonder if states are eventually going to I mean, it's it's prestigious, it means money when these huge data farms come to your state, But is it eventually going to be a bigger drain under your resources than they're worth.
It's going to be a big it already is What was the number we had, mister Thompson a week or two back. I think the projections are here and here in South Carol Well. I think it was nationally by by next year. These the data farms alone, okay, these AI data farms and there's I think the number was twenty seven hundred that are already in existence, are going to be finished up here sometime soon, will suck up about six percent of all the electricity generated in this country.
That's a sizeable portion considering you're talking about twenty seven hundred data farms versus you know, hundreds of millions of people and households, and you odd into the businesses and everything else. I mean, I don't know what that. I don't know how many meters you are you got in this country, but it's it's hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of millions. Yeah, and twenty seven hundred of these meters are going to take about six percent of our electricity?
Are they going to dial it back in the summer when I want to crank up my air commissioner, we could ask, hey, Gary, don't don't do it a Google search? Right now, I'm trying to cool off.
Don't get AI had to help you with anything, right now. Okay, we're overburdened as it is. I don't know, it's yeah, I may be just unnecessarily freaking out over this, but it's a legitimate concern.
I think if we didn't have the history that we have with that particular hole in the ground, I mean, that just makes it all the more real.
Yeah, okay, well, uh, I'll tell you I as far as the State House is concerned, I see them, you know, yeah, let's go do that. They've already said, yeah, go go try to find these people. Now. Getting somebody on board, I think is not going to be as easy as maybe some folks hope it is. But that could be wrong.
Yeah, I'd love to hear that sale, right, huh. That pitch try to try to spin that you use is always happening.
And we'll keep you informed and up to date.
It's important to stay informed these days more than ever.
On one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC.
Seven forty three some reaction to our discussion on the restarting the VC Summer nuclear player, I wanted to pass along quickly, Rob emailing Gary David ATWVOC dot com that some of the union workers who worked on that project lived in his in his neck of the woods, and that one next door neighbor who worked there was an expert concrete tech said most Awfulhen they chatted, he complained about how inspectors would make them stop work and tear
out concrete for some technicality, very costly. So he led me to believe it was set up to fail. Early on Laura emailing love listening to you and the rest of the crew in the morning. Thank you, Laura. However, she writes, lately your reports about the project have repeatedly included a major piece of misinformation. The Westinghouse AP one thousand design is not fatally flawed. There are currently four up and running in China and now two on the grid of the Votal site in Over and.
Georgia after the vlow got fixed right.
Well, and she points out I says her husband was a final valve test engineer at the Votal Units three and four for about four years. That this design does have changes that are addressed along the way, but is in no way fatally flawed. It goes on to write that in addition, the VC location has been stripped for parts by Votal, and the re licensing would be the
biggest hurdle to the restart. So yeah, they they did work the initial Yeah, the initial design was maybe not fatal, but was definitely flawed and that was a big problem. And yes, thank you Laura for for pourting that out. They did, you know, do a redesign. Yeah, but what I don't know, And Laura, if your husband knows more, let me know, I'd appreciate it. Is will you have to go back and revise anything now or have they already started those revisions when this.
Thing went belly up? That's a good question.
That's that. Yeah, that that I don't know.
That's that's why those westing House executives got in so much trouble.
Well, yeah, they were. They sold us a little of goods exactly. Yeah, so yeah, it can be fixed. It's the original design was fatally flawed, but they did they do enough work at VC Summer to change that design to where somebody could come and just pick up and start from you know there, they have to start from scratch or do a redesign.
I'm more curious about what Laura said about so many parts of order been stripped to go to Georgia.
Yeah.
I mean because originally our idea was, okay, let's just sell whatever we can and you know, make pennies on the dollar on all the parts that we had out there. There was nobody five years ago could have envisioned us restarting this project. Oh no, So no, it was get whatever we can. And now that we want to start it back up, Laura may have a great point. We may not have enough out there to do it.
Oh okay, I appreciate y'all weighing in on that this morning. Now, Oh wait a minute, I just heard from Marshall. Christopher. You made a good point. Has anybody in our state government performed a cost benefit analysis on these data the data centers he's referring to that we were talking about those AI data centers? Yeah, it is? It is? Is it worth and we're going to give up huge tax incentives to bring these things here? Sure, and they're going to suck up all of our energy? Is it worth it?
Anytime you want to weigh in Gary David at WVOC dot com or good email mister Talks or hits up on the talkback feature too on your app on your I Heard Radio app. All right, quickly, big rally at the State House yesterday as it was it's school choice Week is this week, and there were a lot of rallies that It was one at the State House yesterday at a time when the Senate has approved a bill to reinstate the private school voucher program. They did it
on a nearly party line vote. There was one Republican Shane Martin and Spartanburg who joined all the Democrats and opposing it. This thing probably would have been done before now, but you know, some other things got in the way here. At the start of the session. They did scale back the initial proposal of six hundred percent over the federal poverty line to qualify back down to four hundred percent
or less than. Actually, so what would have allowed a family of four to make nearly two hundred thousand dollars is still qualify for this It would now be about one hundred and twenty five thousand, which I think is fair. So that was the movement on that yesterday.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning news on one oh three point five FM on five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson eight fifteen.
Now it's Friday, January thirty first, and it's good to have you with us. I'm Gary David and that here is Christopher Thompson. Now we're learning more about We don't know what led to this disaster at a REGAAN National Wednesday night, but we're learning more about it. You may have heard mentioned in the update a few minutes ago that that same air aircraft the crashed start of the day here in South Carolina at Greenville Spartanburg International. These
planes are like constantly on the go. Left Greenville Wednesday morning about seven thirty, went to d C, went back and forth. That same plane flew to Cleveland, to Wichita, back to DC, was supposed to go later that ill fated night to Vermont. Now this this is the plane we're talking about here, Okay, not not the flight crew. They changed out the flight crews. You hear a schedule like that, you think all these people must have been
war out, but no, they changed flight crews. But yeah, this the man can you imagine having been on that same plane that day on one of these earlier flights as a flight crew member or a passenger.
I mean for some people that that triggers survival survivor's guilt, yes, for some Yeah.
And the crew itself, as many American Airlines crews are is it was based in Charlotte. Charlotte's a big American Airlines hub on Dallas is too. But so, what did we learn yesterday that bears repeating today? Well, maybe most importantly this an internal preliminary report from the FAA reports to have us showed that the number of staff members in the tower at Reagan National was, in the words of the report, not normal for the time of day and volume of aircraft.
You don't like you don't like those words not normal. No, we assume that means understaff.
Yes, the AP obtaining a report showing that one air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash, that typically the two assignments are split between two air traffic controllers, that the position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic. Now, despite that, a person who was said to be familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that staffing that night was at a normal level. Maybe their normal level
was there, not normal level. I don't know what that means. But as we talked about yesterday, again, we're talking about a civilian passenger jet and a military aircraft and quite often, if not always there you know, the radio frequencies used by military aircraft are not the same as those used by civilian aircraft. So are we are we to believe that you had one controller who was trying to keep up with h with both aircraft on different frequencies on
different radios at the same time. And if so, the did that play into this to what happened?
And it sounds like there are a lot of contributing factories, it doesn't it. I mean, if you go on social media obviously that you know that's there are the kooks out there who are suggesting it's you know, anything from terrorism to the drones to everything else. But I mean there are lots of pilots, lots of military folks who have you know, posted online that one of the things they said was, you know, these helicopters are by design very hard to see at night.
Yeah, and until and I can speak from some experience as a former pilot, and I didn't fly a lot at night, not a lot. O wouldn't that could. But I can tell you this that you see all sorts of lights in the sky and it can be hard to to sometimes know you know exactly what it is, where it is, how far away it is, what altitude it is. It's it's very confusing. And now and this is this is me talking about, you know, flying around
the Columbia area, Columbia Metro and places like that. You go to Reagan National and this is one of the busiest airports in the country. And it's not a big airport. This is the place where you know, all the all the members of Congress flying and out of on a regular basis. So it's very busy. And on top of that, and this is these are the questions being asked right now. All these helicopters, these these these military aircraft that are
also coming in and out of Reagan National. Is that necessary? What we now? Did We We came to find out that the day before there was another apparently I don't know how near it was, but in a near incident where they had to separate a civilian passenger jet and UH and a military helicopter. How often does this happened?
There?
And it was it was? It just a ticking time bomb. Okay. The pilot of the American Airlines flight shortly before this collision was asked to change its landing route from one runway to another. Now I don't know exactly at what time that change was asked for, I can tell you that according to UH, to the flight recordings, that the pilot was asked to to to make a circle landing on a separate intersecting runway aside from the one that the pilot was originally supposed to land on, and again
depending on when that request came. The landing phase is the most difficult and obviously the most important, you know phase you have in aviation. There's a lot going on in the cockpit at that time, you know, the pile of the coppotter have to pay attention to so much stuff. Are they on the proper alignment? You know? I mean, are they sitting around on the runway. What's their airspeed, what's their altitude? So many things that I mean, that's
a very busy time for them. And at some point in time you just have to trust, especially at night that the controllers in the tower are keeping proper separation, were they? Uh, there's apparently audio from the tower that night the controllers warned the helicopter ahead of the crash. You know, I got to mention this and when we're
about a time here, I know. But uh, but Trump coming out yesterday and he brought ups, I mean, some some very good points about you know, the Dei effect, and this was actually something that started under Obama uh and continued continued under under Biden, although the Washington Post and their fact checker pointing out that actually what Obama had instituted started to take place while Trump was present the first time, bringing in uh, well targeted disabilities that
the uh that these towers needed, you know, more and more diverse people, including people with hearing issues, with vision issues, with partial or complete paralysis, with epilepsy, with psychiatric disabilities, severe intellectual disabilities. These are not the people you want guiding planes in and out of airports. But Trump coming out yesterday and you know, started off as consoler in chief, but then pivoted to things like.
This, He's a disaster now. He's just got a good line of the Department of Transportation. His government agency charged with regulating civil aviation. Well, he runs it forty five thousand people and he's run it right into the ground with his diversity.
Was talking about Pete Buddha j Edge, the former Transportation secretary, and he had a lot to say about it. And listen, we may disagree on this. The things Trump brought up needed to be brought up about how DEI may have made life much more dangerous for people flying in airplanes. But the time, the place, the moment for that was not yesterday. I was appalled, I mean, was these things needed to be said, but not right then come out express condolences, you know, but but let's not delve into
that yesterday. At that point in time, I really thought that should have Wait.
You never know when the news will break, but leave us on and you will.
I think we want to see more details now.
One O three point five FM and five sixty am doub VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC.
Alright, eight forty now that we're seven arrested in Charleston, UH Wednesday night, A protest in Marion Square against the immigration policies of the Trump administration and other news. There was a protest against the Trump administration and their policies. If you notice how man? You remember gosh eight years ago, man, it seemed like everybody that didn't vote for Donald Trump was out in the streets protesting Donald Trump.
I'm surprised there are many as there are. I mean you just mentioned that one in Charleston. And you know, we saw the article in this morning's paper about Chuck Schumer trying to get together all the Democrats, and you know, people are demanding that Schumer oppose everything Trump done. Have you seen did you see what happened in November? Have you seen the polls? I'm not sure if I'm the Democrats.
I know you can't completely capitulate, but maybe you just sit on your hands for a little while, because you've got to realize at this point your point of view is incredibly out of favor with the American people.
Yeah, and what demonstrations just see or they're water down? Man, there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm, well certainly not the numbers who can blame them right exactly? So there, let see Nancy masonw turning her site on the lieutenant governor. Pamela Evatt asked about lieutenant governor. She says, she's a really nice lady, but unfortunately in six years now going on eight as lieutenant governor, she really has no accomplishments, nothing to show for it, doesn't have an original idea.
She's super nice. I love her. I think she's a great person with faint praise, no idea, is no biggor, no fight. OK. Yeah, Well, Nancy Mace is doing what Nancy Mace does just you know, makes noise and gets people to talk about what she's saying. Well, that doesn't make for a good governor.
But she also is pointing out a problem that pam Evatt is going to happen on the campaign trail, as there's going to be a name recognition issue there is.
We talked about this earlier this morning briefly. I mean, if you lined up ten South Caroll and he is and said, okay, who's the lieutenant governor? How many do you think I tell you? Or if you show them a picture of Pamela Evitt, how many can tell you, Oh, that's lieutenant governor.
And that's no knock on her. Now, it's not everyone who's ever occupied that office, except for it brought out earlier Andre Bauer for other reasons. He got noticed for other things.
All right, there were about three different high stakes confirmation hearing is going on and one day yesterday, yeah, I I I can watch a little of these. And at some point I said said, okay, never mind.
It's too much grand standing without anything, you know, in the way of you know, telling us what they'll actually do. And you know what, if you're concerned, if you're that concerned about a particular candidate for a cabinet position, make it known, but you.
Don't make it a circus. Well, you know. And yesterday in the rash thought Jonathan and Kelly were talking about like Tim, for example, Tim Scott was not at Who's hearing. I guess rfk's first day, right, And they said, well, you know what Scott said, Well, we'd already talked, he'd already aswered all my questions. Not a bad idea us sit down with these folks. What do the what does the American public gain from, you know, going through these
confirmation airings publicly? We don't have any say so on the matter. Now we had to say so on November the fifth, and we said so, so, I mean, why not, seriously, why not have you know, these nominees sit down and and and have their interviews one on one with these senators, well most of these committees, and then you know that's that's that's.
That most of them do make the rounds before these committee hearing. Sure, yeah, because those meetings are a lot different than what we see in public.
So so why are these why are these necessary other than to score political points for either party. Well, it's just the way we do things. R f K Well Okay of of r f K, Junior of Tulca Gabbard of Cash BTEL And I heard a Democrat analyst say this yesterday. She says, well, you know, I think the one with the best chance of the easiest road here the three is Cash Protellent. And I can't believe I'm saying that, she says, but she's right.
I think so, yeah, there are a lot of people that realize, I think that the federal government and its investigative branch need to be taken in a bit, and he's the guy to do it.
Approval of the FBI. Is that an all it, all time lows right now confidence in the FBI, and that's not a good place to be.
I think Tulsi Gabbard, I think the knock on her is that she used to be one of them and they feel the trade by her.
Sure, and some Republicans are like, I'm not sure really trust her. Yeah, and the whole you know, between the the Syrian issue and the Russian thing and the the snowed and thing and the seven O two things, just there's too many things. Yeah, when it comes to Tulsi Gabbard. Well, you could say the same about r f K Junior. Yeah, but I think of the two that RFK has got a better chance of getting through than does Gabbard. I do for that reason.
And I think that she because they feel betrayed by her, that they're just they're gunning for her.
So uh. But said the rf K, that's it. That's therese are two day hearings right there, another day for Patel and for Gabbard. And then there was some you know, notable moments yesterday and we don't have time to get into all of them right now.
But I mean he scored some shots too, No, I'm talking about r f K.
Yeah. Well, they both did. They both did, and you know cash Hotel certainly getting some uh some attention with uh well when he when he talked about his family, you know, coming to this country and the racks are richest story and all, and uh well, when he was being interviewed being a questioned by Lindsey Graham yesterday asking if he had faced his own personal racism, and yes he did, and some of the things he said about what he was called and including threats on his life,
that certainly got your attention. So that continues in the pace not to the well, yeah, again, it's nearly two weeks in office now for Trump, and I realize these things take a while, but you wish there was a way to speed up the process because well, okay, if Tulci Gabbard is voted out, now you got to start all over again with somebody else. Right, how long does that take? We need a Director of National Intelligence. If RFK Junior doesn't get through, you start all over again
from scratch. How long does that take? We need a Health and Human Services Secretary. Doug Bergham, by the way, got through with Flying Colors is Department of the Interior, which is good news because you talk about oil production, oil drilling, fracking, all that is the job of the Department of the Interior to grant leases and such, And Doug Bergham, a business person, is the secretary of that department. Now, so that is good news right there. I don't know
if you saw this or not, mister Thompson. If you did, you knew I would mention it. Newly discovered asteroid will likely miss Earth, but impact during twenty thirty two holidays can't be ruled out. Yes, remember this one. This is asteroid twenty twenty four. Why are four? It was discovered just late last month. The probability of impact one point two percent, NASA, writing on a blog post. Currently, no other known large asteroids have an impact probability above one percent.
This one is one point two. By the way, the asteroid is level three out of ten on what is known as the Torino impact hazard scale. I had never heard of such a thing.
And when's it swinging around.
During the holidays twenty thirty two?
So we've got time, We got time.
I think the way they've advanced the atomic clock now, I think we're closer to having that issue than we are this issue. But anyway, get busy on the bucket list just in case.